Sworn Rivals!
by historiarum
Summary: Hana Takahashi, a self proclaimed goddess and taijutsu master, is the sworn rival of Itachi Uchiha! Well...she decided that herself.
1. Chapter 1

**DISCLAMER:** _Italics=_ thoughts

* * *

Hana Takahashi was the perfect girl. She was a genius. A witty, intriguing young woman, with the looks of an absolute goddess. Short strawberry blond hair that accentuated her soft features, big turquoise eyes that glowed with a warming light. She could charm the coldest of men, and was the subject of envy for many other girls. Truly, a beautiful girl…Except she isn't really that smart….and Is also kind of..annoying.

"Hiroshiiii! What'cha writing there?" There was her shrill annoying voice. How sad. Hiroshi closed his journal quickly. "N-nothing Hana-chan" He nervously replied. "Hmmm. Whatever." She said as she twirled her hair absentmindedly. The brown haired boy looked up at the girl from where he sat in the classroom. _She's so…loud. A shame, she's so beautiful. It's like finding a torn hundred dollar bill in your pocket._ "I got ya staring huh? It's fine, I know how pretty I am. OHOHOHO!" She held her dainty hand to her mouth and let out a haughty laugh. "You aren't man enough for me though Hiro-pyon" She smirked at the boy. "That's fine Hana-chan, I'm not that interested in girls anyway.." The boy quietly replied, even though he wanted to smack her upside the head with his journal. "Ohhh right! You're the nerdy book loving type! That's real lame honestly. You should practice taijustu with me instead of reading those silly healing jutsu textbooks! We'll beat up everyone in our way!"

The girl put her foot up on a chair and clenched her hand into a fist, wearing a determined expression. "Hana-chan, you shouldn't practice taijustu alone. How's your ninjustu going?" Hiroshi asked as he clicked his pen. "Ehhhh..Don't worry about that! I'm top of the class when it comes to taijustu and that's all that matters!" She thrusted her fist into the air and smiled. "You mean..second to Itachi Uchiha-san." Hiroshi butted in to ruin her little moment. "S-Shut up! That stupid Uchiha brat is no where near my leve-" "Is that why he beat he you fair and square five times?" "I said shut up Hiroshi!" She screamed. _Sigh what did I do to deserve such a team mate?_ "Hmph! You'll see, I'll beat that snot nosed little kid up one day." She remarked, with fire burning in her eyes.

"Anyway, I've got to get home soon, so, seeya later Hana-san." The boy picked up his belongings and stood up from his chair. "Aww already? I wanted to go get dango later." The girl pouted. "You mean show up at that sweets shop Uchiha-san frequents and try to start a fight?" The boy said with an unimpressed look on his face. "Gehehe! You know me so well Hiro-pyon!" She smirked. _There goes that stupid nickname again._ "Well, seeya!" Hiroshi said as he left the almost empty classroom.

* * *

 _Guess I'll have to stir the pot all by myself today!_ Hana didn't have any other friends, though she'd never admit it. She was actually quite sad to see Hiroshi leave. _Ah well! Off to Nakamura-san's sweet shop._ Hana left the academy and began happily skipping to the village shopping square, humming obnoxiously all the while. _Hehehe I'll slap his dango straight out of his hand! Even the most kindest of men would kill a man for their dango!_ Hana was scheming with an ominous expression on her face.

When she arrived at the sweets shop, she took a deep breath before opening the sliding door. She swung the door open with a great force, and spotted the small black haired boy grabbing his dango from the server over the counter. "Itachi Uchiha!" Hana exclaimed while pointing at the boy. The sever sighed, another day of this crazy brat. "What is it Hana-san?" Itachi spoke in a calm voice, unfazed by her shout. She grunted frustratingly at the lack of reaction from the boy. "F-fight me! In a noble battle between sworn rivals!" The girl's finger shook with each word. "I'm sorry Hana-san, I don't want to fight you." He bowed his head. _Stupid respectful Uchiha bra- "_ Wow Itachi, you didn't tell me you had a rival!" The cheery voice of another boy entering the shop rang out. Hana turned around, it was another Uchiha who looked to be around her age, with spiky hair. "We aren't sworn rivals, we're classmates." Itachi spoke to his friend, Shisui Uchiha. Hana looked at the boy. _An Uchiha smiling!? Is this another dimension!?_ "Wrong! I am Hana Takahashi, the sworn rival of Itachi Uchiha, I swore so myself." She corrected the boy. "Well, I'm Shisui Uchiha. Did Itachi surpass you at the academy? He has a lot of rivals because of that." The boy smiled and responded. Hana couldn't tell if it was a smug smile, or a friendly one. "Y-yes, he did." She meekly responded, ashamed of the fact.

"Well! Sorry about that! But, Itachi and I have to do something now so, maybe you guys can fight later?" Shisui put his hand on Itachi's shoulder and gently nudged the boy out of the shop. "Seeya around Hana-San!" Shisui yelled to the dumbfounded girl, and Itachi gave a small wave. Hana was at a loss for words "B-byeee.." Yet another loss at the hands of a dark haired demon. She pouted. _Dang it._ She left the shop and walked home with a dejected expression.

"Mom! I'm home!" Hana shouted as she entered her house. There was no response. _Guess she's still working at the hospital._ Hana went up to her room and sat on her desk chair, letting out a loud sigh. She got up and walked to her bedroom window and opened it. "Hiroshi!" She shouted to her neighbor's window, and it slid open. Hiroshi stood in his lounging clothes. "What do you want?" He asked. "I lost again Hiro-pyon." She said with a sad frown. Hiroshi's expression softened. "So what? You never give up do you? Try again another time, I'm sure you'll win." He said with an encouraging smile. "Hiroshiii! You're so kind! It's honestly kinda weird..Could it be? Are you in love with me?" She said with a suggestive smirk. The boy's smile faded "No I'm not you idiot!" He yelled, and slammed his window closed. _Huh. What a tsundere._

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 ** _Author's note:_**

 **1.** **The thoughts at the first part are Hiroshi's, and at the second part is Hana's.**

 **2\. Itachi is 8 years old, Hana and Hiroshi are 9, Shisui is 9. Weird to hear pre-pubescent children speaking so maturely but remember they're all training to be child soldiers, and Itachi and Shisui are child prodigies.**

 **3\. Those line breaks appear when the pov/thoughts changes to someone else, or the location changes, it'll reoccur.**


	2. Chapter 2

"Good morning class!" Greeted Yuki Minazuki, the homeroom teacher of class of class A. "GOOD MORNING SENSEI!" The class clow- genius, screamed, from the back of the classroom. Minazuki-sensei gave a half smile. "Why do you always have to be so obnoxious you blockhead?" Hiroshi snarked at his hyperactive classmate. "Don't be such a buzz kill Hiroshi. It's the start of a beautiful morning!" She grinned at him.

"Whatever, just be quiet for the rest of the class." He turned to their teacher. "Well, class. As you know, you've all been assigned to teams, and underwent your team exercises already, but now, you get to do missions!" Minakuki-sensei clasped his hands together and gave the class a smile. The class room was filled with 'oooh's and wide smiles.

"Finally Hiroshi, we finally get to do missions! Isn't this exciting?" She asked her quiet classmate. "Everything's exciting with you around," Hiroshi sarcastically replied "But have you forgotten about our third member?" "You mean our non-existent third member. The guy never showed up at school after orientation!" Replied Hana. "Exactly, things are going to be very difficult if it's just the two of us, in fact, because of that we might get D-rank missions across the board." Explained Hiroshi. "You mean…not even C rank o-or B?" Hana shuddered at the prospect, she wanted action damn it! "Yes, not even C or B rank." Hiroshi didn't really care, he just wanted to rub salt into her wound. "Gyaaaah! Such a world…HORRIFYING!" She put her hand on her head and nearly fainted. "Calm down, I said might not will." He felt bad about crushing her spirit and tried to give her some hope.

"Alright settle down class! Get into your teams and gather at the training grounds to meet with your squad leaders!" Yelled the teacher. "Yes teacher!" The class chorused. "Let's go meat KiNIKU*-sensei!" Hana tried to make a pun. "That….just wasn't funny at all Hana-chan." Hiroshi looked like he was in physical pain. "Aw, at least I tried." Hana said, dejected.

The duo made their way to the training grounds where they spotted their squad leader Kiniku Tanaka. "Yo! Niku-sensei!" Hana greeted the white haired woman. "Tch. You brat! I told you to stop calling me that!" The woman adjusted her spectacles in annoyance. "Good morning Kiniku-sensei" Hiroshi bowed and greeted the woman. "Oh hello Hiroshi-kun, polite as usual, unlike this rotten strawberry over here." She smiled at the young man. "What did you say you middle aged cat lad- OW!" Hana couldn't finish her sentence before being smacked by her teacher. "What were you saying Hana-chaan?~" The woman glared at the rude girl. "N-nothing sensei" She murmured while clutching her aching head.

"Well! Today we're going to be doing a C Rank mission! We are to find a missing puppy belonging to a family friend of the Hokage." Explained Kiniku. "Are you serious!? I wanna leave the village!" Hana was severely disappointed with the given mission. "Sorry, but in case you forgot, there was a WAR not too long ago. Not many places we can go without encountering some trouble, all the other teams are assigned missions within the village as well, except for Team 2, with the Uchiha kid." Kiniku wiggled her finger side to side. "Awww…damn that privileged kid." Hana clenched her fists. "Eh, it's better than nothing. When are we getting to it sensei?" Asked Hiroshi. "We can start searching now if you guys want." Said Kiniku. "Let's go!" Exclaimed the strawberry blonde girl.

* * *

"Hiroshi…Kiniku-sensei just left us here…" Hana said to the boy beside her. "I realised. She sure has a lazy streak, that woman." The boy replied. The duo was stood in front of the hokage's building. **_"Well, I'm gonna go search for that puppy over there haha! Good luck guys!"_** They remembered the words of their teacher, who most likely left to get hammered at a bar somewhere. "Any idea where to look? Where do puppies go to hang out?" Asked Hana, quizzically. "There isn't some puppy social circle! We should ask around and see if anyone saw it." Hiroshi explained to the idio- girl.

"Ughhh Hiroshiiii, this is so boring! Why don't we go hopping roof to roof looking for the puppy?" Hana complained as they were walking through a street, they had asked about ten people, with no leads. "You only think with your muscles huh? Asking around gives us a better chance than just wandering aimlessly." He stopped and turned to Hana and reprimanded her, knowing she just wanted to show off her balance and leg strength. "Whatever you lame-o, I'll do the REAL detective work! You can ask around!" Hana stuck her tongue out and jumped on to the roof of a clothing store and continued on without Hiroshi.

* * *

 _I should probably look in some alleyways, that seems like a doggy hideout._ Hana jumped roof to roof around the village, investigating each alley she spotted. She was on her fifth, when she spotted a brown puppy sleeping near a garbage bin. _Aha! There he is!_ Hana leaped down into the alley and gently scooped the canine up into her arms. The puppy licked her cheek and wagged his tiny tail. "Awww you're a real cutie aren't ya? Not as cute as me though hehe!" She excitedly ran to find Hiroshi.

 _Hehe, he'll feel real stupid when he see's this!_ She skipped away, humming a cheerful yet off-key tune. She spotted his wild brown hair among a crowd near the hokage's building. "Hiroshi! Look what I found!" She shouted while holding the puppy in the air. He turned to her and smiled surprisingly. "You actually found it. Good job. Guess being a muscle-head has it's perks sometimes." "Heh, you know it!" She grinned, not realizing she was insulted.

"You guys…" Hiroshi and Hana turned their heads upon hearing the voice of their teacher. She had a grim look on her face. "Come with me, we have to go." She spoke to her students. "But the pup-" Hana was cut off as a jounin took the puppy from her hands. "I'll take care of this, go with your sensei." The man promptly left after that.

Hana and Hiroshi followed their teach back to the entrance of the academy. "Tenma Izumo, of team 2, was killed today, during their mission." Kiniku said softly. Hana and Hiroshi were at a loss for words. "That's…terrible." Hiroshi uttered. "Did they get the guy who did it?" Asked Hana. "Unfortunately , no, but Minazuki-san and Itachi-kun described the culprit as a man in an orange mask, with long black hair. "Is Uchiha-san alright?" Asked Hana. "I don't know, he's at the Hokage's office right now." Upon hearing that Hana, turned and ran. Leaping from building to building to reach there as fast as she could.

Kiniku and Hiroshi looked on at the girl's retreating figure. "Is that kid close to Itachi?" Asked Kiniku. "Quite the opposite actually. I wonder what's gotten into her." Replied Hiroshi.

When Hana arrived at the Hokage's office, she spotted Itachi leaving, while his father spoke to the Hokage. "Uchiha-san!" She shouted. He stopped. "Oh..Hana-san." He said softly. "A-are you..okay?" Hana stuttered. She didn't know why she was even here, she barely knew the guy, but it felt like she had to go talk to him. "I'm fine." He gave a simple response. "I-it's okay, if you're not you know. We can go get dango at that sweets shop if you'd like." She said, trying her best to give a welcoming smile. Itachi looked at her, with his large dark eyes. _Maaan, this is awkward._ Hana was fidgeting nervously. "Alright" He agreed to go with her. _Thank god! It would've been uber-awkward if he said no. I'd have to beat him up for turning down a beautiful maiden like myself._

And so, the pair of rivals found themselves sitting on a bench, munching on some dango. Well, Itachi was eating slowly and gracefully, while Hana stuffed her face very unceremoniously. "Waah. That was delicious. A snack befitting a fine warrior such as myself." She smiled, satisfied with the amount she consumed. Itachi said nothing to the older girl, and continued taking small bites.

"Hana-san, why did you invite me here?" Itachi looked up at the girl. "O-oh? Well I uh, wanted to cheer you up I guess! After all, many people call me an angel of kindness!" She gave a proud smile, even after telling such a horrible lie. "Thank you." Said the boy, as he took his last bite.

They sat there for a while watching the sun set. "Uchiha-san, how are you so talented?" Hana asked with a small voice, almost ashamed to ask the question, fearing it would ruin her 'tough' image. "I work hard and I train a lot." "Can you uh, help me train?" Itachi turned to the girl. "Why?" He asked. "Because, we're rivals and I need to spy on your techniques so I can stab you in the back later on in life!" Itachi stared, "Just kidding! I just want to get stronger, because my teacher ain't a big help, and I don't seem to be getting better on my own so, help a girl out." She pleaded. "Alright. Meet me every Thursday after school at the training grounds, if you'd like." Hana was shocked that he agreed so easily and so quickly. _Maybe he wants me to be strong enough to defend myself…_. After saying that he got up. "Thank you for cheering me up, but I have to go home now, Hana-san. See you at school." He gave a small wave and left.

 _What a weird kid..he's even quieter and mysterious now. Understandable, considering what happened earlier today._ Hana looked at his retreating figure. "Hope you feel better Itachi!" She yelled to the boy.

 _At least I scored a great deal. I get to fight my one and only rival every Thursday. I'll definitely beat him!_

* * *

Hiroshi stared at his bedroom window, waiting for the loud girl to shout him from her room. _I've got nothing better to do._ Hana always made sure to greet him before he slept. "BANG!" the sound of Hana's window slamming open reached his ears even through a closed window. "Hiroshiii!" She called. _There she is._ He opened his window to see the girl wearing an oversized t-shirt. "Hey." He greeted. "Heyyy! Guess what happened today?" She excitedly questioned. "You talked to Itachi?" He asked. "Not only that! I also made him my training partner! Now I can learn all his techniques so I can stab him in the back later in life, not literally of course!" She smiled from ear to ear. _How nice, now she can be out of my hair more often._ "Great job I guess. I wish you all the best in your pursuits." "Thanks Hiroshi! I gotta get to bed now though, seeya in the morning." Hana waved and closed her window.

Hiroshi looked at the closed frame. _I guess I MIGHT miss her a little._

* * *

 **Author's Note:**

 **bold italics = flashback**

 **The relationship between Hiroshi and Hana will remain purely platonic..I think? I don't know if I'll include romance in this story, maybe if in the future if by some miracle this gains enough popularity and people start begging me to let a ship sail, who knows :P**


End file.
